Ten-ball

Ten-ball is a modern pocket billiards (pool) game. It is a Cuegloss|Rotation|rotation game very similar to nine-ball, but more difficult, using ten balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the 9 as the "Cuegloss|Money ball|money ball".

Ten-ball is preferred over nine-ball by some professionals [http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=4181 "Predator World 10-Ball Championship Announced"] (Dragon Promotions press release), as reported by "AZBilliards", February 27, 2007; accessed March 5, 2007] because it is slightly harder to Cuegloss|Pocket|pocket any balls on the Cuegloss|Break|break shot with the more crowded Cuegloss|Rack|rack, opponents cannot win the game by pocketing the 10 ball early (such as on the break or on a Cuegloss|Combination shot|combination shot), and performing a string of Cuegloss|Break and run|break-and-runs on successive racks becomes increasingly difficult to achieve (statistically). There is a possibility that ten-ball will eventually eclipse nine-ball as the most popular professional tournament game. [cite web|url=http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.cfm?storynum=4909|title=9 Ball - A Funeral Whose Time Has Come |publisher=AZ Billiards.com|accessdate=2007-12-07]

Racking

The ten balls are racked as a triangle as in the game of eight-ball (but with 10 instead of 15 object balls), with the 1 ball positioned at the apex of the rack, the 10 ball positioned in the middle of the rack, and the other balls placed in random order, with the apex ball on the foot spot.

Play

Most of the same rules apply as in nine-ball. This means that in order to establish a legal hit, the cue ball must contact the lowest numbered ball first, and subsequently at least one ball must hit any rail, without the cue ball being pocketed. In ten-ball, shots have to be Cuegloss|Call shot|called, which means that the player must call a ball and the pocket in which to make the ball. Note that this does not have to be the lowest numbered ball. The game is won by pocketing the 10-ball on a correctly called shot. An exception to this rule is that pocketing the 10-ball on the break also results in a win.

If a player pockets the wrong ball, or pockets the nominated ball in the wrong pocket, the ball stays down. The exception is the 10-ball, which gets respotted on the Cuegloss|Foot spot|foot spot. The opponent then has the choice of taking the shot, or handing it back. [cite web|url=http://www.wpa-pool.com/index.asp?content=rules_10ball|title=WPA Ten ball rules
publisher=World Pool-Billiard Association|accessdate=2008-07-09] Clarifyme|date=November 2007

Under World Standardised Rules, it is a Cuegloss|Call shot|call-shot game, in which Cuegloss|Fluke|flukes do not count; that is, unlike in nine-ball, the ball to be pocketed and the pocket must be specified.

World Ten-ball ChampionshipAnchors|World Ten-ball Championship|WPA World Ten-ball Championship

The nominal first World Ten-ball Championship (previously, for six years, the event has existed but been known as the Florida Open Ten-ball Championship) was held on May 23, 2007, in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. Players slated for competition were unspecified as of early March 2007, but were expected to represent Asia (including Japan, Korea and the Philippines), Europe (including Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Italy), North America (including the US and Canada), and South America (unspecified as of early March 2007). The rules sanctioning organization is the United States Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA). Rather unusually for professional pool, the tournament matches were played on home billiard room, mid-size 8 ft by 4 ft tables instead of the professional, pool hall 9 ft by 4.5 ft standard size. The genesis of the event was said to be "demand for more skill in competitive games as requested from the top pro players around the world" by event sponsor Dragon Promotions's president, Cindy Lee. The winner of this inaugural event was Shane Van Boening of the United States.

The World Pool-Billiard Association started its first own inaugural World 10-Ball Championship, with prizes totalling US$400,000 (₱18,860,000), at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, September 29 through October 5, 2008. There were 128 players competing in the tournament, representing 44 countries. Philippines Vice-President Noli de Castro made the ceremonial break, witnessed by officials of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), International Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Billiard and Snooker Congress of the Philippines and tournament organizer Raya Sports. [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/09/29/08/world-ten-ball-kicks-manila-128-main-draw abs-cbnnews.com, "World Ten Ball Kicks Off in Manila; 128 in Main Draw"] ]

2008 results

In the first-ever WPA championship, 19-year-old Wu Chia-ching defeated Filipino Demosthenes Pulpul (11–8, semi-finals, October 4). Using a borrowed cue stick, Wu reached the title match of the event. Pulpul, however, will compete against Niels Feijen of the Netherlands for the the 3rd place prize of $25,000 (₱1,178,000). Earlier, Pulpul defeated Liu Haitao (11–8) of China in the quarter-finals, while Feijen lost to Englishman Darren Appleton, 9–11. Appleton will square off with Wu for the $100,000 (₱4,715,000) 1st prize. [ [http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirersports/inquirersports/view/20081005-164648/Pulpuls-magical-run-ends sports.inquirer.net, "Pulpul's Magical Run Ends"] ] [ [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/10/04/08/pulpul-fails-reach-world-10-ball-finals abs-cbnnews.com, "Pulpul Fails to Reach World 10-Ball Finals"] ]

On October 5, Darren Appleton claimed an upset victory over Wu Chia-ching, 13-11, and won the $100,000 (56,000 pounds) top prize: "I've waited 16 years for this and have to enjoy the moment. I had mixed feelings and I was looking back at my disappointments in the past. I was ranked first (earlier in the decade) in the world but I have never won a world championship. I saved my best game for the finals. I’m really wanted to dictate the tempo of the game, but the breaks just didn’t go my way. It was a good game. I played well this time. He was a tough player but I made fewer mistakes than him. It was a dream come true for me and I’m happy to win the title here in the Philippines. I would love to be back here. [ [http://www.mb.com.ph/SPRT20081006137187.html www.mb.com.ph, Appleton is 10-ball king] ] Pool is an easy choice for me as a sport as I have to choose among boxing, football and pool among others. But this victory is sweeter for me and I have to dedicate this to my parents, whose relationship is in the rocks. With the $100,000 grand prize, first, I have to give some to my parents, because we had a difficult way of living.” [ [http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=sports2_oct6_2008 manilastandardtoday, Appleton’s 16-year wait over] ] [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/10/05/sports/OUKSP-UK-POOL-WORLD.php iht.com, Appleton wins world 10-ball title] ]

Wu, 19, nicknamed "Taisun" (little genius) settled for the runners-up prize of $40,000: “I didn’t have a good break in the last game and that was crucial to me.” [ [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=200810